Prefabricated shower stall construction



July 25, 1961 A. s. RUHM PREFABRICATED SHOWER sTALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. 4. 1959 l Q El United States Patent 2,993,212 PREFABRICATED SHOWER STALL CONSTRUCTION Alfred S. Ruhm, 646 S. Vine, Escondido, Calif. Filed Nov. 4, 1959, Ser. No. 850,942 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-146) This invention relates generally to a prefabricated shower stall construction for utilization within a building enclosure.

Modern building advances, together with the high cost of construction, demand that building structures be constructed as expeditiously and soundly as is consonant with the basic building economies. In accordance therewith, the building industry has in recent years, emphasized the prefabrication of all or part of buildings such as dwellings, for instance. While many advances have been accomplished in the field of developing prefabrication of sections or of total buildings themselves, Very little has been done in this area with respect to prefabrication of some of the sub-assemblies used with the building in its construction. Of course, the basic economical reason for prefabrication is that the unit Prefabricated such as a building, a sub-unit of the building or of its sub-assemblies, may be mass produced using assembly line techniques. Each individual or group of individuals so constructing a portion becomes expertise in construction of that unit and can do so much more expeditiously, doing a better job in less time for less money. The instant invention is directed to advancement of prefabricating one of the sub-assemblies for a building.

In the present invention the shower stall used in buildingsis prefabricated. Shower stall constructions of a kind other than I disclose, presently obtainable in prefabricated form, are cumbersome, of an awkward, cold, metallic design, pressed out of a single sheet of metal, lacking rigidity, as well as good appearance. My instant invention, setting forth my preferred embodiment of the prefabricated shower stall construction, overcomes these defects and provides a sturdy, pleasant appearing and easily constructable prefabricated shower stall construction.

My shower stall construction includes a plurality of elongated framing members spaced apart from each other, which carry my shower stall construction. Inbetwixt the framing members, at their lower extremity, may be positioned a basin member. Upward from the basin member and also inbetween the framing members, are panel members, defining the wall sections and the top sections. The panel members, including the -wall sections and the top section, are all fastened to the framing members and carried therefrom. My invention includes novel means to fasten the wall sections to the basin member, and means to stiifen the wall sections, so as to provide rigidity of the entire unit construction. The wall sections dedne an enclosure open on one end, on whose inner wall sections there may be disposed the usual cover materials such as plastics or tile, upon the Wall sections, to provide the finish surface for the shower stall. The stall construction is further provided with a plurality of mounting lugs which are disposed generally about the framing members, to fasten the stall construction to the building structure itself. Adjacent the members 'defining the opening to the enclosure of the, shower, there may be disposed means or finishing members, fastened to the framing members, to integrate the stall construction with the wall structure of the building structure itself. Therefore, a rather well constructed shower stall construction, pleasing to the eye, is achieved, emulating custom shower stall construction of expensive specialized workmanship type.

In addition to objects and advantages aforestated, it is 2,993,212 Patented July 25, 1961 'ice an object of the present inventiion to provide a simple, well-constructed and pleasing to the eye shower stall construction, prefabricated so as to simulate in finish form, custom installations.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shower stall construction which may be prefabricated by relatively inexperienced help utilizing normal assembly line procedures.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a shower stall construction so prefabricated as to be readily adaptable for insertion into a building structure and mating with the wall sections thereof.

Objects and advantages other than those set forth above will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a view in perspective of the overall showerstall construction;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation along line II-II of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-section along line III-III of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-section along line IV.IV of FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE l, there is shown in perspective several of a plurality of elongated framing members 10, #which carry the entire stall construction. The. elongated framing members 10 may utilize in their construction any well known building materials,y and may include wood, metal and plastics, and the like, but for purposes of the preferred embodiment l have exemplified them using plywood construction. Such plywood construction provides sufficient rigidity and minimizes weight considerably. However, it should be clearly understood that I do not desire to be limited to plywood in the construction of the framing4 membersltl. .While in the normal rectangular stall construction, as exemplified in FIGURE l, four framing members 10 would normally be utilized, one at each corner location thereof, it is possible and within the pur-V view of thepresent invention, to construct the stall construction in cross sectional configuration other than rectangular. An important requirement is to utilize sufficient framing members 10 to carry the stall construction regardless of configuration. Y

Positioned near the bottom and adjacent the framing members 10, and intermediate the framing members, is a basin member 12. Basin member 12 has formed therethrough a drain outlet` 14, for evacuating liquid normal-V ly collected in the shower stall during usage within basiny member 12,. Basin member 12 may be of a preformed and unitary construction if desired. The preferred em-` bodiment so exemplifies basin member 12. The materials which may be used in the construction of basin member 12 include any well known shower stall floor construction such as cement, tile, terrazo and plastics. I prefer in the exemplified embodiment, to utilize a fiber glass unitary construction in which the basin member 12fis preformed and premolded into a predetermined configuration and dimension. lf weight is not a factor in thel particular Prefabricated stall construction desired, then of course cement, tile, or terrazo may be used and molded into the preformed basin member.

Extending upward from the basin member 12 and intermediate the framing members 10, are a plurality of panel members 16. The framing members 10 encompass the basin member 12 and the panel members 16. The panel membersnl may utilize well known building materials, preferably of light weight, relatively rigid and of considerable strength, such as plywood, plastics, wall 3 t embodiment utilizes plywood. The panel members include wall sections 18 and a top section 20 each of which is fastened to framing members 10. Such fastening may be Aachieved by blue nails, screws or like fasteners, capable of fastening one member to the other. While a stall construction may have other cross dimensional configurations, in the preferred embodiment the rectangular cross sectional configuration is shown. There are therefore, utilized therein three wall sections 18, and a top section 20. These together dene an enclosure 22 which is open on one side so that a person may enter into it.

In my preferred shower stall construction I desire the w-all section 16 to be carried by the naming members 10 so that the Weight of the Wall sections need not be carried by the basin member 12. To that end the basin member 12 is fastened by fastening means 25 to the Wall section 16, so joining one to the other. Fastening means 25 is exemplified in greater detail in FIGURE 2. As shown in FIGURE 2, basin member 12, if desired, may have adjacent the wall section 18 a lip section 27 for aiding iu fastening and joining the wall sections through the fastening members, with the basin. The lip section 27,

however, is merely an added embodiment thereof. Wall section 18, therefore, positioned adjacent basin member 12, may carry in a recessed relationship -a stud or bolt 29 protrud-ing through the lip section 27 and through an added athwartly positioned cross element 31. The stud 29 may have positioned thereupon a nut 32 and Washer 33 to afford threaded engagement therebetween element 31, base member 12 and wall section 18. If it is further desired to seal basin member 12 to the wall section 18, a sealing compound such as putty, caulking compound, mastic or other sealing compounds or means 35 may be disposed intermediate the basin member 12 and the Wall section 18 to provide watertight sealing therebetween. The compound 35 is referred to as a Waterproofing means applied intermediate the basin member 1'2 and the panel member 16, which together with the cooperation of the fastening means 25 provides watertight integrity between the members.

The enclosed portions of the wall sections 18 Within the enclosure 22 furnish the surface upon which a finished surface layer 38 may be provided. The finish surface layer 38 may lbe one of a type normally found in shower stall installations including materials such as tile, plastic yand other decorative and waterproof coverings normally used in shower stall construction for the final finish surface layer. The surface layer 38 should be waterproof and be-mounted in watertight relation to and upon the enclosed portion of the wall sections 18 and in abutting relation to the basin member 12. In order to effect the layer construction necessary to mount the surface layer 38 upon the wall sections 18 within the enclosure 22, the enclosed portion of the wall section 18 may be treated first with a sealing means 39 directly disposed upon the wall sections. Sealing means 39 seals the wall sections yagainst absorption of moisture. Upon the sealing means 39 may be disposed adhering means 42 such as glue, mastic, or other adhering-type materials. Adhering means 42 provides and is adapted to provide a surface capable of supporting in adhering relationship finish surface layer 38. The layer 38 mounted upon the adhering means 42 will provide a Waterproof finish surface.

The enclosed portion of the top section may be covered with a finish surface layer if desired, but as isv normal in shower stall construction it may only be sealed and painted. The top section 20 covers the enclosure 22 defined by the basin member 12 and the wall sections 18.

Mounting lugs 45 are Idisposed about the exterior of the stall construction upon the framing members 10, and fastened therethrough, together with the wall section 18 as shown in FIGURE 3, by fasteners 47 such as nails, bolts or screws or like. The mounting lugs 45 are,

adapted to mount the stall construction as a unit with. the building structure, firmly and rigidly to the building structure to become an integral part therewith. The increased rigidity is desired especially upon utilization of ceramic tile, for example, for the layer 38.

It may further be desired to provide a wall section stiffening means 50 attached to the Wall section and athwartly positioned intermediate the framing members 10 to strengthen the wall sections. Adverting to FIG- URE 4, itis seen that a recessed bolt 54 may be imbedded in and presented by the wall section 18 which bolt in turn will carry against the exterior of the wall section 18 a stiffening element 56 such as, for example, is exemplified, a channel element of Wood, metal or plastic. A nut 58 may then make threaded engagement with the bolt 54 to firmly hold the channel member 56 against the wall section 18 providing it with suliicient additional stiftening and rigidity to carry the weight supported upon its enclosed surface. Channel element 56 may of course be fastened at one or more locations lalong the athwart dimension of Wall section 18.

It may also be desirable to recess the shower stall construction within the building structure and to do so there is additionally provided means '60 which may be a preformed wooden, metallic or plastic member fastened by nails, cement, screws or the like, here shown as nails 62, to the wall section 18 or if desired to the framing i member 10, and carried therefrom to form the finish edge with respect to lath 64 and plaster 65 of a wall structure of the building structure.

The particular embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein are illustrative only, and the invention includes such other modifications and equivalents as may readily appear to those skilled in the art and within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A Prefabricated shower stall construction comprising Y a plurality of elongated framing members for carrying said stall construction, a preformed unitary basin member having -a drain outlet formed therethrough and presenting a lip section, a plurality of panel members, said framing members encompassing said basin member with said panel members, said panel members including three wall sections and a top section, all fastened to and intermediate the lframing members, said sections defining an enclosure open upon one side, fastening means disposed crossvvise of said training members for joining said basin member to said wall sections, said fastening means comprising cross elements disposed crosswise of said framing members and against an external surface of the lip section and a 'plurality of fasteners disposed through said Wall sections, said waterproofing means, said lip sections,

and said cross elements for urging one against the other and holding them together, said wall sections being in watertight sealing relationship with respect to the lip sections; waterproofing means applied intermediate the basin member and the panel member, a waterproof finish surface layer mounted in watertight relation to Iand upon the enclosed wall sections and abutting the basin member, said top section covering the `enclosure defined by the basin member and the wall sections, and mounting lugs disposed about the exterior of said stall construction upon said framing members Iadapted to mount said stall construction as a unit within a building structure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,502 Nilsen Sept. 18, 1928 2,484,240 Morthland Oct. 11, 1949 2,712,164 Sheffield July 5, 1955 2,757,385 Whittick Aug. 7, 1956 i 2,930,047 Bowser Mar. 29, 1960 

